Fibrous absorbent resilient material and process of making it.



l ordinary cotton waste,

plicity of other uses.

tomarily used under for filling the spaces between sound.

felt-like only in a much higher degree,

greater resilience; but I havenot had the oo cafiplianees at my disposal to make the necesi rnn :rnir

FRElJERIC DAVID LOVELL, OF TAMPICO, MEXICO.

FIBROUS ABSORBENT RESILIENT MATERIAL AND PROCESS OF MAKING IT.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 17, 1910. Serial Patented June 27, 1911. No. 582,576.

, 5 Mexico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fibrous Absorbent Resilient Material and Process for Making It, of which the following is a specification.

y invention relates to a process for uti- 1o lizing a part entering into the structure of the banana-tree which has hitherto not been made available for use in the industrial arts, by producing therefrom a fibrous, absorbent, resilient material somewhat similar to adapted to form an excellent substitute for waste asa wiping material, and particularly as a packing for car boxes and journals and all classes of axle bearings, as well as lending itself to amulti- Owing to its great property. of absorptivity it answers very well as a substitute for absorbent cotton for medical purposes. The same quality makes it available for making the small mats cusglasses, in serving beverages, to protect the tables and take up spillings. For upholstering purposes, stuffmg seats, mattresses, etc., the resilience of this new material combined with its softness 30 make it very valuable, especially in view of its cheapness as compared to horse hair and other materials used for. these latter purposes. Being a poor conductor of heat the fibrous product may be advantageously used double partitions and floors in dwellings, to assist in keeping them cool in summer and warm in wlnter, while at the same time deadening the I have produced very serviceable inserts for foot-wear from the same material. "Many other uses to which it can be-put will develop as the material becomes better. known; When compressed it should answer for filling casemates and comparteamentsqgf war vessels, to automatically close upshot-holes'after the manner of the cellulose obtained from the husks of cocoa-nuts, owing to its sary ,test s.-, For purposes of identification I -have designatedthis new material by the name banana-wool. Banana-wool is obtained from the stalk or stem of any one ooofithe' many varieties of the banana tree (Mara .sapehtum). 'As thestalk is either .me that attempts have left to rotor is cut oil close to the ground and thrown away at the time the fruit is harvested its use for the present purpose is a clear gain. I am aware that the fibers of the stem have been used, by the natives of tropical countries where the banana is indigenous for textile purposes, especially in making rude cordage. It is also known to been made to use these fibers industrially. by scientifically equipped experimenters; but to the best of my knowledge in the first case as well as in the second the results have been quite unsatisfactory, so that today the stems are considered of little or no value, excepting, perhaps as fuel. The fibrous residue of the stem after the juice and woody portions have been removed is not adapted for textile purposes because the fiber is too fine, not leaving it sufiicient strength to stand the necessary operations. This defect, however, in no way. militates against its use as an absorbent, as above outlined, to which use it has never to my knowledge been put.

The stem is made up of vertically extending leaf-like sheaths or layers. Each outer sheath infolds the inner one next to it, but without going all around it. This structure enables the sheaths to be readily separated, which is the first operation of the process. For the present this is done by hand, but suitable mechanical means are being devised to this end. The separate sheaths are next cut intolengths according to the length of separate bundles of fibers one desires to obtain, which depends on the use to which the banana wool is to be put. \Vhen the fiber bundles are very long, being resilient, and given a curling tendency in the making they tangle and twist up into a snarl, which for some purposes is ver undesirable. If not cut to proper lengths before treatment, it is practically impossible to do so later on. These lengths are fed longitudinally, or end first between a pair of smooth-faced rolls or crushers, which squeeze out the greater part of the juice andpress the sheaths out flat. After the material emerges from the rolls or crushers it is exposed to blasts of air which dry it suificiently for the ensuing shredding. Care must be taken not to removeall the moisture before shredding lest the fibers become too brittle and break up into short straws. By carefully regulating the degree of compression, which may be varied by adjusting the position of the rolls strips varying inwidth acpording -tol thfe. spacing of the teeth along the face'oftthe' roll. and according to the width of their cutting edges. The strips'are really flat bundles of very fine fibers to which some woody matter adheres as made for the form of the wool which I have found best adapted for wiping and similar purposes for which cot ton waste is used. As the number of fibers in each bundle is very consideable it is clear that by continuing the splitting any desired degree of softness of the product may be obtained; In preparing banana wool for use as a substitute for absorbent cotton, the splitting up is carried on by running the strips through toothed rolls having teeth as fine and as closely spaced as those of a comb, until the resulting product is assoft as cocoon silk. For such very fine subdivision I may also advantageously substitute for the shredding rolls a horizontally moving table which pulls the strips through the teeth of a fixed steel comb. The more the subdivision, the more the woody matter is removed. In the process of shredding the moisture. is again red uced, by the squeezing to which the-material is necessarily subjected.

\Vhen the desired degree of subdivision has been attained the resulting strips are run through a set of h *atod rolls, while still containing sufficient moisture to enable them to stand the compression and tension without breaking. These rolls serve to curl the strips so as to enable them to be readily united into a waste-like. mass, the parts of which naturally intertwiue and become knit. together. It might appear that this were contradictory with the previous-statement that very long strips ,are undesirable owing to their tendency to become tangled and snarled, as that would seem a desideratum in order to assist in the intertwiiling of the fiber bundles. But that is not the case; the

ditierence being that while it is desirable that one fiber bundle curl and twine around another, it is harmful to have one strip coil up and become tangled with its own parts, as thereby knots and lumps would, be produced, diminishing the wiping and absorbing surface,'and, at the same time, 'prevent -ing-the knitting of one strip with another; After being curled the banana wool is thoroughly dried by exposure to the sun and air or by any suitable known mechanical'means, whereupon it is ready for being utilized in any one of the many ways indicated.

I claim: I

l. A process for preparing a fibrous, resilient, absorbent material consisting of separating the stem of a banana tree (Musa sapz'en-t'um) into its component.- sheaths; cutting said sheaths into suitable lengths, partially squeezing the juice out of said lengths" and flattening them; partial] drying said squeezed and flattened lengths; shredding said lengths into strips of desired width, said strips being fiat bundles of fibers to which some woody matter adheres; curling said strips and thoroughly drying said curled strips.

2. A process for preparing a. fibrous, resilient, absorbent material consisting of separating the stem of a banana. tree (Masasayn'ehtum) into its component sheaths; cutting said sheaths into suitable lengths, partially squeezing the juice out of said lengths and flattening them; partially drying said squeezed and flattened lengths; shredding said lengths into strips of desired width, said strips being fiat bundles of fib'ers to which somewoody matter adheres; curling said strips: thoroughly drying said curled strips. and impacting them intoone-mass by )ringing anumber of said curled strips.

together, and causing them to intertwine and become kmt together by pressing them together. and by the tendency totwist and unite imparted to them by said curling and by their-natural elasticity. y In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

" F lEDERIC DAVID LOVELL.

' Witnesses: Romano Romano, G. A. GUERRA. 

